KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2: Malaysia’s crude palm oil market was lower in listless trade on Friday after Chicago soy futures fell back in Asian screen trade, and ahead of next week’s fresh crop data, traders said.

At the close, the benchmark third-month October contract was 12 ringgit lower at 1,493 ringgit ($392.89) a ton after trading as high as 1,501 ringgit.

Volume was moderate at 2,417 lots.

In Alliance/CBOT/Eurex (A/C/E), front August soyabean futures was 0-= cent lower to $5.68 per bushel. It had touched a high of $5.70 per bushel.

This is Friday. People are cautious and don’t want to take new positions, said one trader in Kuala Lumpur.

Private forecaster Ivan Wong is expected to update his output, end-month stocks and exports estimates for July next week. He had put July output at 970,000-975,000 tons, up three per cent from June.

Another Kuala Lumpur dealer said shipment bookings to main buyers India and China had reached 180,000 and 80,000 tons respectively for August, which raised hopes of further improvement in exports.

Cargo surveyor SGS said India bought 97,830 tons of palm oil from Malaysia in July, while China purchased 241,563 tons.

Traders in India said on Friday rains in the country’s key soyabean-growing areas in central India this week have given a new lease of life to the crop and improved production prospects.

India annually produces over five million tons each of groundnut and soybean in the winter season, sown mainly in the western Gujarat, central Madhya Pradesh and southern Andhra Pradesh states.

There were no rains in the last week of July in Madhya Pradesh, which accounts for about 70 per cent of the country’s soybean output.

At the physical market, August/September CPO contracts saw bids at 1,495 ringgit a ton against offers at 1,505 ringgit. Deals were done at 1,495 to 1,500 ringgit for August (south) and at 1,495 ringgit for August (central).

September (south and central) was done at 1,500 ringgit.—Reuters